


i like you

by flowersandsunshine



Series: we deserve each other [1]
Category: Lovely Little Losers
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Other Background Characters - Freeform, everyone knows they're dating but them, vlogging - Freeform, winterking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-26 15:23:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9908567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowersandsunshine/pseuds/flowersandsunshine
Summary: Meg starts vlogging again, and runs into a familiar face. Canon compliant in that it's not disproved by canon. Also winterking is real y'all





	

**Author's Note:**

> yayyyy happy femslash february to lucy!!! i hope you really enjoy this story <3 <3 <3 have a lovely rest of the month, okay?

Meg adjusted her camera as she hummed to herself. She focused the lens, turned it so it was set at the correct angle, hit record, fluffed her hair, and sat down. 

Smiling, Meg waved. “Hello, lovelies! It’s so good to be talking to you all again. As you probably saw on the Lovely Little Losers channel, it was a weird year and everyone needed some space from vlogging, but I am back again, in all my beautiful glory, to update you on my life!”

She paused to clear her throat. “Transition here,” she mumbled. “I have been living here, in Wellington, for the past couple of years now, I would say. Vegan Fred is basically my best friend, and yes, I still call him that. He’s really the loveliest man in all of New Zealand.” She grinned. “I love this city, I love my job, I love everything about my life. Still single and having fun, and I really couldn’t imagine what would make my life better.

“So, I have a proposition. I know all of our old friend group is going to watch this, because, hello, it’s me.” Meg winked at the camera and made a note to herself to add in a twinkly noise there. “So, if anyone wants to join me and do an actual Vlogbrothers type thing, I would love that. Maybe Ben and Bea? Only if you’re up to it, of course, but I would love to see where you are in the world right now. Or anyone else at all! I miss you all, and I don’t get to see any of you enough.” 

Meg shifted slightly to the left and gave her biggest smile. “Alright, I will talk to you all later! I’m going to update this on Fridays, with random vlogs thrown in, so keep your eyes peeled! Later, lovelies.” She stood up and turned off the camera, taking the memory card out and immediately putting it in her computer to edit the video. 

Vegan Fred appeared and leaned up against the door frame. “You’re doing this again?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Meg said. “Do you want to be in it?”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not sure that this is the best idea, Meg. Remember how it went last time?”

Meg glanced up at him, all sad corners and awkward limbs. “Um, yes, some people got together and got their happily ever after preserved on camera for all to see?”

“Some other people did not,” he reminded her. 

“Like you,” she said.

“Not just me,” Vegan Fred snapped.

Her eyebrows rose.

“Sorry, sorry.” He sighed. “It’s been a long day. What I meant was, yes, Paige and Chelsey, Ben and Beatrice, Peter and Balthazar, they are all very happy together. But Kit and Freddie? I guess, in some way, myself? Probably not going to be happy if this vlogging starts a lot of drama again.”

“It won’t.” Meg smiled at him. “I’m the queen of avoiding drama.”

“Okay,” he said. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Oh, god, I would love some coffee.” Meg stood up and shut her laptop. “Lead the way, Boyet.”

\---

Meg walked into Boyet’s coffee shop a few days later and smiled at a familiar sight. “Hello, friends,” she said, her voice cheery and her step light.

Kit turned away from Freddie to look at Meg. He smiled, his smiles still as radiant as ever. “Meg! It’s so good to see you! How are you doing?”

“I’m great, Kit, I’m great. I didn’t know you still worked here.” She smiled over at Freddie. “Hello, Freddie! It’s been too long.”

“A year or so, I believe,” Freddie said. 

“Yes, that’s right.” Meg smiled at both of them.

“What can I get you, Meg? I’m just filling in for a friend, I don’t really work here, work here, not anymore,” Kit said.

“Oh, um…”

“Do you still like the blended white mocha?” Freddie cut in. “Medium, right?”

Meg looked at her for a long moment, her mind blank, before she perked up again. “That’s right! That is exactly my drink.”

Kit grinned. “Coming right up.” He turned and began to make her drink.

“How’d you remember my order?” Meg asked.

Freddie shrugged. “Uh, ah, yes, well, it’s just… what I do.” She paused. “You’re probably wondering why I’m talking with Kit.”

“A little, yeah.” Meg waited.

“He and I, well, we figured we worked best as friends. Which is too bad, because he’s still hot.” Freddie smiled a little bit. “But I would say we’re best friends now.”

“No residual feelings?” Meg asked. “That’s amazing. I don’t think I could have done it.”

“Yeah, well… I don’t think I could stay alive without him, but I definitely could stay alive not being his romantic partner.” Freddie smiled as Kit poured milk into the cup. “He’s pretty cool. He still writes songs and stuff, and he’s in university. I’m helping him stick to a schedule.”

Meg nodded slowly. “I see.”

“But, anyway, whatever… how are you doing? What have you been up to?”

Meg and Freddie chatted for a few more minutes before Kit brought Meg’s drink back. 

“My ladies, it is ready.” Kit handed it over the counter. 

“Okay,” Meg said, pulling out her wallet.

“No, no charge on this one,” Kit said. He shook his head. “Nothing for one of my favorite girls.”

“Kit,” Meg said.

“No arguing! Why do people always argue against free stuff?” Kit asked Freddie.

“This is why they let you go, you know,” Freddie said. 

“True, but I don’t even technically work here anymore, so free coffee for all my favorites,” Kit said. He shoved the drink into Meg’s hands. “Please, take it. I really think that you are one of the best people I’ve ever known, and you work so hard, and if anyone deserves a free drink from Vegan Fred, it’s you.” 

Meg squeezed his hand. “Thank you, you wonderful, lovely man.” She turned to Freddie. “Hey, you should text me. We’ll catch up.”

Freddie nodded. “Of course, Meg. I’ll text you.”

Meg smiled and lifted her drink. “Catch you on the flipside.”

“God, that’s awful,” Freddie said, giggling a little. “See you later, alligator.”

Meg smiled and walked back outside into the bright sunlight. She took a sip of her drink, the drink she had loved two years ago, and shook her head, amazed. “How did she remember?” she asked herself. “Amazing.”

\---

Meg leaned back slightly. “Viewers, I don’t know if you remember that I used to drink white mochas a lot? Blended ones? Well, I did. Probably not on camera, come to think of it, but I did drink those quite often. Well, I ran into an old friend recently and she remembered my drink order, from all that time ago. It was, I don’t know, impressive and… touching, really. That she remembered. Very touching.”

\---

“Who remembered your drink order?” Vegan Fred asked. He and Meg were baking and they were chatting lightly about their day, when he asked the question.

Meg’s head snapped up. “You watch my vlog?”

“Of course I do,” Vegan Fred said. “Now, who remembered the order? Let’s see. Female. From Wellington. Was on the vlogs from before, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. Freddie or Jaquie?”

“Why couldn’t it have been Chelsey? Or Paige?” Meg asked. She cracked another egg and watched the liquid run into the bowl, avoiding Fred’s eyes. 

“Because it was, and I quote, ‘Touching, very touching,’” Vegan Fred mimicked her voice. “And your face lit up a little. You never thought of Chelsey or Paige that way.”

She looked up at him and hoped her face wasn’t red. “It was Freddie. And I didn’t mean it that way, you idiot.”

He smirked. “No, you meant it in the ‘We’re totally friends from another time and I didn’t have a secret crush on her two years ago’ way.”

“I didn’t! I still thought I was straight!” Meg protested.

“You can think you’re straight and still have a crush on people, Margaret,” Vegan Fred said. 

“God,” Meg muttered. “You’re so annoying.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, I am.”

\---

Her phone lit up a few days later. Meg picked it up and smiled; it was from Hero, one of her favorite people. 

Hero (9:34pm): Hi, Margaret! I was wondering if I could be the other side of your Vlogbrothers thing.

Meg (9:35pm): are you sure? I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything but yeah I would love that babe!

Hero (9:37pm): Of course! I was actually thinking of starting a channel and doing some makeup vlogs and such, so this would be great, because it would keep me motivated. I actually really liked vlogging, even with all the things that happened. 

Meg (9:38pm): You’re my favorite.

\---

Meg settled back to watch Hero’s first vlog.

“Hello, Meg, and any other people who may be watching. This is just an introductory video, explaining who I am, but later, I want to get into makeup tutorials and hair and general clothing. If this makes any sense.” She laughed.

Meg smiled.

“I’m Hero Duke, I recently graduated high school, and now I am going to an arts university in New Zealand. I love puppies and kittens, and the color yellow, and I am extremely stereotypical, but I am okay with that, and hopefully, you are, too.”

“Hero Duke, the cutest person ever,” Meg muttered. 

“I’m sharing this vlog with Margaret Winter, one of the best people I know, so you should watch her videos as well. I will be, and I’ll probably be referencing things she says, so you should definitely watch her vlogs to understand what I’m talking about.”

Meg smiled again. 

“So that’s me! I’m Hero, I am learning to love myself, and, well, yes. That’s all.”

Meg picked up her phone.

Meg (10:21am): hero you are so cute 

Hero (10:45am): Was it alright?

Meg (10:46am): perfect

\---

Meg stopped in Boyet’s and glanced around. She spotted a familiar redhead in the corner and, after ordering, sat across from her. “Freddie Kingston.”

Freddie’s eyes snapped up. “Meg!” she squeaked. “Hi! Sorry, I’ll put my book away. I didn’t notice you come in, sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” Meg said, smiling slightly. “How are you?”

“Good! Yeah, good, good,” Freddie said. “Just, you know, hanging out, trying to keep my mind off of school.”

“You’re in law school now, correct?” Meg asked. She heard her name and grabbed her coffee before settling in across from Freddie again.

“Yes, yeah, I’m in law school. Doing pretty well.” Freddie’s eyes glazed over, as if she was trying to remember something.

“That’s great. I’m happy for you.” Meg smiled and resisted the urge to reach over and take Freddie’s hand. 

“Yeah.” Freddie looked back to Meg and smiled back. 

There was a moment of silence, where they both sipped their coffees and stared into space. 

“There’s something I should tell you,” Freddie said after a while.

“Oh?” Meg asked.

“So Kit and I broke up, which you know. And I told you it was because we worked better as friends. And, well, I’ve been meaning to get up the courage to tell everyone, and you seem like you won’t judge me, so I’ll start with you, but…” Freddie drew a deep breath and hesitated.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Meg said.

“I think I’m a lesbian.” Her eyes were wide and she lifted a shaky hand to her mouth. “I’ve only ever told Kit that before.”

“Oh.” Meg raised her eyebrows. “Oh, well, I’m very pleased that you decided to tell me. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, I mean, probably not.” Freddie paused. “I mean, you’re straight, right? So I don’t know what insight you could give me.”

“Oh, well, I’m bisexual, which I realized about a year ago, but, honestly, we don’t have to discuss it if you don’t want to.” Meg tilted her head to the side and studied Freddie. “Who are you afraid to tell?”

“Well, I think I need to tell Ben, and Stanley, and Peter, just because, I don’t know, it feels like I should. And my parents. Oh, god, my parents are going to hate this.” Freddie bit her lip, anxious.

“You don’t have to tell them anything, you know. You don’t owe them anything,” Meg said softly.

“They’re my parents,” Freddie retorted.

Meg nodded. “This is true.”

Freddie was quiet for a while, and Meg waited for her to speak up again.

“Anyway, I think I just wanted to tell someone, anyone. That’s the real reason Kit and I broke up. He totally understands. He leans more towards guys anyway.” Freddie glanced up at Meg. “Sorry for dumping that on you so suddenly.”

“It’s all right. Thank you for trusting me.” Meg reached over and squeezed Freddie’s hand. “You are perfect the way you are, you know.”

“I know.” Freddie smiled. “Thanks.”

“Of course.”

“Um, I have to get back to school, but… It was great to talk to you.” Freddie stood suddenly, knocking against the table in her haste to get up. “I’ll see you around?” 

“You’ll see me around.” Meg stood as well, leaning over to kiss Freddie’s cheek. “Have a good day.”

Freddie’s eyes were wide when Meg pulled back, but she nodded, grabbed her bag and coffee, and practically fled out the door. 

Meg stood alone for a moment, wondering why the hell she just kissed Freddie’s cheek.

\---

“You kissed her cheek because you love her,” Vegan Fred said casually, putting more vegetables on his plate.

“I do not,” Meg protested.

He raised his eyebrows. “Ask your viewers. You have quite a lot. Take a poll. See what they think.”

Meg sighed. “All right.”

\---

Meg put up the video ‘What Does a Kiss on the Cheek Mean?’ the next day, and within twelve hours, the results were in. 

Twelve percent of her viewers decided it meant nothing, thirty-six percent thought it meant she liked Freddie, and fifty-two percent thought the video was too vague and they had no way of knowing. There were 37 comments on her video, as well.

@georgeplots: Is this about any girl in particular or… this doesn’t make sense

@twop2: I honestly can’t tell if you like this girl or not, but why else would you kiss her on the cheek? Maybe if you gave us more information we would be able to tell.

@heroduke: Margaret, who is this about? Text me back. (215 likes)

@ripcityfan: @heroduke yes ‘margaret’ text hero back and then hero can give us the lowdown (54 likes)

Meg groaned and opened her phone to Hero’s text from the day before. 

Hero (11:01pm): Who did you kiss on the cheek?

Meg (4:21pm): Freddie Kingston.

Hero (4:23pm): Really? Do you like her?

Meg (4:30pm): I don’t know?

Hero (4:31pm): You were typing for such a long time, I thought for sure that would be a longer response. So you don’t know if you like her. You liked her before, right? Maybe this is just your brain remembering that and acting upon it. Besides, she’s into guys, right? Maybe just let it go.

Meg (4:35pm): she’s a lesbian

Hero (4:36pm): Oh.

Hero (4:52pm): Margaret, I can’t open you up and look inside your heart for you, but you don’t fall back on drama anymore, unless you like somebody, and I mean, really like them, so I want you to take a step back and examine your heart. I think if you really know if you like somebody or not, it will make you feel better about yourself and you will be lighter. Do you know what I mean? Spend time with Freddie, evaluate your feelings, be happy. 

Meg (4:55pm): What if I want to be single forever

Hero (5:01pm): Then be single forever. That is okay. 

Meg (5:02pm): Okay.

Meg (5:03pm): You aren’t going to talk about this on the vlog are you?

Hero (5:04pm): Of course not

\---

Meg clicked on Hero’s video and raised her eyebrows. 

“Hi, I’m Hero, and today, we’re going to have a guest star!” Hero motioned at the person sitting to her right. “This is John Donaldson, who some of you may know. He and I go to school together. Say hi, John.”

“Hi,” John said.

“Today we’re going to talk about art, and we’re going to paint, and explain what we’re doing as we go.” Hero smiled at the camera. “I’m a terrible artist, and John is amazing, so this should be fun.”

“I’m not ama—”

There was a jump cut and Meg snickered to herself. Hero was good at funny edits.

She watched the two of them chat about nothing while painting. The video got sped up in some parts and let them talk in others. It was nice, it was easy. It was a happy, chill video. No mention of Meg. 

Meg breathed a sigh of relief at the end of the video. She knew that Hero wouldn’t break her promise, but she had still been tense. 

There were a few comments asking about her, but Hero had answered all of them with tact and had skillfully avoided the question. 

Meg (3:45pm): Thank you.

Hero (3:47pm): For what?

Meg (3:51pm): Keeping my drama off your vlog.

Hero (3:53pm): Anything for you <3

\---

Meg was walking home from an interview, slowly wandering through town, when she stopped dead in her tracks. “Peter? Balthazar?” she asked, amazed.

Peter stopped, gripping Balthazar’s hand, stopping him. “Meg!” Peter exclaimed. “Wow, it’s great to see you!”

Balthazar’s face lit up. “Meg, it’s you!”

“Uh, yeah, it’s me,” Meg said, smiling a little. “It’s you! What are you two doing in town?”

“Costa’s doing a performance he’s calling ‘lovely losers’, all lowercase, for the aesthetic,” Peter said, using air quotes and smirking a little. “We’re in town to see his terrible renditions of us. Do you want to come? Or are you? He said he invited everyone whose phone numbers he had.”

“He doesn’t have my phone number. I made very sure of that.” Meg rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. “What a strange man. I would love to come watch him try to capitalize off us.”

“I don’t think it costs money to get in,” Balthazar said, “so, like, it probably isn’t capitalizing.”

“Oh, shush, Balthazar,” Meg said, reaching over and grabbing his other hand. “When do we go?”

“It’s in a bar in about twenty minutes,” Peter said. “Walk with us.”

They all walked, hand in hand, down the street.

“So,” Peter said after a while, “you and Freddie?”

“What?” Meg asked. “I mean, what?”

“Kit told Balthazar that you and Freddie were flirting with each other a lot.” Peter wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Is that true?”

“No! I mean, not intentionally.” Meg frowned. “I have only seen Kit once in like, two years. I certainly don’t think he thought Freddie and I were flirting the one time I saw him.”

“Then Freddie must have told Kit,” Peter said.

Meg’s heart starting picking up speed and she tried to force the blush out of her face. “Well, she’s mistaken.”

“Was she the one you kissed on the cheek?” Balthazar asked.

“Shit,” Meg said. “Balthazar…”

“I watch all my friends’ vlogs,” he said. “Yours is no different.”

Meg sighed. “Yeah, I kissed her cheek.”

“That’s nice.” Balthazar squeezed her hand and smiled at Peter. “Isn’t it?”

“Disgustingly sappy,” Peter said.

“You love it,” Balthazar said.

“Yeah, yeah.” 

They smiled at each other and Meg smiled to herself. Those two figured it out, and she was still happy for them. 

If Peter Donaldson and Balthazar Jones could figure out a relationship, so could she. 

So could she.

\---

“Oh, hey, look who’s here!” Peter exclaimed. He was holding a beer in one hand and Balthazar’s hand in the other, and stared across the bar to the small seating area. “Everyone!”

Meg looked over to see Paige, Chelsey, Kit, Freddie, Jaquie, Rosa, and Hero all sitting down across the way. She grabbed her drink and rushed to go give Hero a hug.

Hero hugged her back enthusiastically. “Margaret! It’s so good to see you!”

“You, too!” Meg said. “Oh, it’s nice to hug you again, you beautiful human.”

“You okay?” Hero asked, almost too quietly for her to hear.

“Yeah,” Meg said. Her eyes flickered to Freddie before returning to Hero’s face. “Can I sit with you?”

“I would love that,” Hero said.

They sat down together. Meg was about to turn around and say hi to everyone when Costa walked out on the stage.

“Greetings, everyone! It is so good to see such a sizeable crowd tonight, ready to enjoy the theater in its true form!”

Meg counted ten people in the audience and almost laughed out loud. 

“Tonight, we will have drama, we will have humor, we will have rules, and we will have true love. Please, enjoy the show, and feel free to leave comments in the suggestion box in the back.”

Meg grinned at Hero and they settled back to enjoy the show.

\---

“Dear lord,” Meg heard Freddie say as they all stood up to leave.

“Oh, my god,” Peter said back.

“I don’t…”

“I think I’m brain dead now.”

“My eyes are bleeding and I’m a little bit angry,” Freddie said.

Peter shook his head. “I really don’t know how to react to that horrible rendition of our lives.”

“We should fight Costa,” Freddie suggested. 

Meg tried not to laugh as she watched these two try to wrap their head around the truly terrible play they had witnessed. 

“Yes! Let’s fight him,” Peter agreed immediately.

“No, wait. How about none of us make any suggestions?” Freddie said. “That will hurt him right down to the core.”

Peter smiled slowly. “I love it. Evil.”

“Thank you,” Freddie said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and laughing.

Meg dropped her eyes, looked around, away from Freddie. The ache in her chest grew tight and she found herself walking towards them without any prompting from herself. “Hi, guys. Did you enjoy that play or what?”

“It was horrible,” they chorused.

“Now, now,” Balthazar said from behind them.

He and Kit were standing together, apparently listening to their conversation. 

“He took some creative liberties,” Kit said.

“At what point in that year did I run around the flat in my underwear, loudly singing about being bisexual and proud, and do handstands and stuff like that?” Peter asked.

“Well, not the handstands, but everything else,” Balthazar said.

Peter gaped at him. “Rude,” he said.

Meg and Freddie laughed. 

“It’s true,” Balthazar insisted.

“Anyway, that was a god-awful play,” Peter said.

“It was okay,” Paige said, joining them. “Not his best, but he worked with what he had. And what he had was a pretty terrible cast, no budget, and a small stage in a loud bar.”

“Oh, Paige, always so nice.” Peter reached out and grabbed her shoulder. “It would have been terrible no matter what. At least the actors for you and Chelsey were good. They definitely looked like they were in love.” He glanced at Meg. “And your actress was amazing.”

“She definitely had the Meg charm,” Hero agreed. “Don’t you think, Freddie?”

Freddie gaped at her. “I, uh, yeah, she was, um, charming.”

“And hot!” Hero added cheerfully.

“Yeah,” Freddie said. She looked uncomfortable.

“I think it was fucking hilarious, anyway,” Jaquie said. She leaned over a chair and nudged Balthazar. “The guy who played you sucked at singing, and he was so loud.”

“Yeah, Costa did his best, I’m sure, but it was…. Yeah,” Balthazar said. “I don’t know how to be nice about it so I’m going to be quiet.”

“You’re ridiculous, babe,” Peter said. “Nobody tell Costa anything. Be vague. Here he comes.”

They spent the next twenty minutes confusing Costa to the best of their ability, with Balthazar, Hero, and Paige all trying to be nice and everyone else trying to be weird and vague. 

Eventually Costa threw up his arms, muttered something about “artists”, and bid them adieu. 

Meg grinned at Freddie. “That worked.”

“Yeah, it was great,” Freddie said, snorting a little. 

They locked eyes and Meg’s breath hitched in her throat. Freddie’s eyes were so big, so kind, so open, and she was in the middle of a laugh, making her face more welcoming and lovely. 

She definitely liked this girl.

“So, Freddie,” Meg said slowly, “can I get you a drink?”

Freddie’s eyes opened a little bit wider but she nodded. 

“Anyone else want anything?” Meg asked hesitantly, praying they said no.

“Go ahead,” Balthazar said quickly. “We’re all fine.”

“Okay.” Meg smiled. “Come on, Freddie.”

They walked over to the bar together. Freddie gave her order and Meg paid for it and her own drink.

“They’re talking about us, you know, probably,” Meg said, motioning back at their friends, who were oh-so-subtly watching from across the bar. 

“What about us?” Freddie asked.

Her voice always got higher when she got nervous, Meg noticed. She smiled a little. “You know. Everyone keeps saying dumb things about how we flirt a lot, and stuff like that.”

“Um, no, who would even say that, no,” Freddie said, speaking quickly and nervously. “I don’t know why anyone would say that, we obviously are just good friends who do not ever flirt with each other.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Meg said, taking a sip of her drink. 

“Why am I ridiculous?” Freddie asked.

“You’re freaking out over nothing! Don’t worry about whatever they say.” Meg shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what they think of you.”

“Everything matters. What people think of me, that matters.” Freddie sighed. “My whole political career rides on what people think of me.”

“Just be intelligent and well-spoken and really do what you say you believe in and people won’t care about anything else,” Meg said, shrugging again. “Then people will think well of you. It’s not that hard.”

“Are you… seriously giving me political advice?” Freddie asked, her tone tightening. 

“Sorry, yeah, no, I shouldn’t,” Meg said.

“Do you want me to give you advice for your articles, or…?”

“No, sorry again. I won’t do that again. I know it’s probably a hell of a lot harder than I think it is.” Meg bit her lip. “I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“Okay.” Freddie’s shoulders went down slightly. “It’s okay. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just, there’s all this pressure, and my family wants me to be their perfect politician daughter, and… I think once I tell them certain things about me, you know, they won’t like me anymore or something.” She sighed. “Why does life have to be so complicated?”

Meg studied her for a minute. “Do you want to dance?” she asked.

“What?” Freddie asked.

“We could dance. That’s not complicated.” Meg raised her eyebrows.

“Can I lead?” Freddie asked after a moment’s silence.

“Sure!” Meg agreed. She stood and grabbed Freddie’s hand, draining the rest of her drink in one fluid motion. They walked out onto the dance floor, where the music was pulsing and lots of people already were dancing.

Freddie put her hands tentatively on Meg’s waist and Meg put her hands around Freddie’s shoulder. The lights had begun flashing, neon colors spinning around the dance floor, lighting their faces up in blue, yellow, purple, pink, green. With her heartbeat pounding to the tempo of the music, Meg let go, letting the feelings of the night overwhelm her as she danced. 

She saw Peter and Balthazar join them on the dance floor, followed by Paige and Chelsey, Hero and Jaquie, and Kit and Rosa. Everyone was dancing to the beat, letting the rhythm and the music and the body heat take them to another world, just for one night. 

At the end of the third song, Meg was drunk off the music and the feeling of Freddie’s hand, still firmly anchored on her hips. She leaned forward and loudly announced, “I think I want to kiss you!”

Freddie froze and tightened her grip, just slightly, on Meg’s hips. “I can’t think of a reason to stop you,” she said back.

Meg stepped closer, into Freddie’s space, and ducked her head. Crashing her lips into Freddie’s, she forgot the rest of the world and let all her bottled up emotion release, the tension in her shoulders disappearing as she lost herself in Freddie Kingston. 

Freddie pulled back after a moment. “Thank you,” she said, before stepping away. “I think I should go home now.”

Meg blinked at her in surprise, just nodding. “Um, okay,” she said after a second. “Sure.”

Freddie walked over to Kit and pulled at his sleeve. “Time to go,” Meg heard her say over the noise.

Kit nodded and he and Freddie walked away. 

Meg sighed and glanced around. Every other couple was still dancing, and Hero and Jaquie were… 

Interesting. They were making out.

Meg made a note to ask Hero about that later. 

She walked out of the bar, into the cool night air, and breathed. 

Oh, she was so fucked. 

\---

“Hi, viewers.” Meg smiled, hoping she radiated energy like she always did. “I went to a play yesterday, and it was very interesting. It was actually based off my life, and my friends’ lives, and the events of our first year out of high school. It was actually an awful play.” She laughed. “But it was great to see so many old friends again.”

She paused. “Actually, I have something to confess, and I’m very nervous about it.”

Meg ran a hand through her hair, stood up, got some water, tried to breathe, over and over, before sitting back down in front of the camera. 

“I think I really like a friend of mine, and I kissed her last night. And… and then she said thank you and walked away from me. And that was it. And I don’t know how to handle it. Do I call her? Do I text her? Do I ‘randomly’ run into her? Do I just wait for her to contact me? I want to, um, I want to date this girl, and for the first time in my life, I don’t know how to be smooth.” 

Vegan Fred walked in and raised his eyebrows at her. “Freddie?”

“Shut up,” Meg said. “Do you want to be in the video?”

He sat next to her and looked at the camera warily before turning to face her directly. “Meg. Meg Winter. You are a beautiful, confident woman, but you’re terrible at relationships.”

“So kind, thank you,” Meg said dryly. 

“What you need to do is go ask her on a date. You can’t kiss her randomly at some bar. This is Freddie! Go over there, take flowers, ask her to go to dinner with you. The direct approach. She will either say yes, or no. Just be honest with her. She’ll probably be honest back.” Vegan Fred shrugged. “That’s all the advice I have.”

“Thanks, Vegan Fred,” Meg said quietly. She stood up and turned off the camera. “I don’t know if I’ll post that.”

“Your choice.” He stood up. “I’ll see you for dinner?”

“Maybe,” Meg said. “Maybe not.”

He smiled and walked out of the room. 

Meg took the memory card out of the camera and thought for a while. She put the card in her laptop and just minutes later was editing the footage into a video. 

\---

Meg stood outside of Freddie’s flat and stood, rooted to the spot, for a while. She pulled out her lipstick and applied it hastily before slowly walking over and ringing the bell. 

The door opened and Freddie stood there, loose hair, workout pants, a baggy t-shirt on. She looked perfect and nervous. 

“Hi,” Meg said.

“Hi,” Freddie said back.

“Um… can I come in?” Meg asked.

“Sure,” Freddie said. 

Meg walked past her and stood in the entryway. “So, I was wondering…”

“Actually, I have something I need to say first.” Freddie sat down on the couch and motioned for Meg to sit next to her. “When you kissed me, a couple of nights ago, I was terrified that it could ruin me.”

“Ruin you? You mean, politically?” Meg asked. 

“No, no, Wellington is pretty liberal, thank god. No, I mean… I really like you, Meg.” Freddie looked up at her, her face honest and open. “I mean, I really, really like you. And dating you, kissing you, loving you, it could ruin me, in a beautiful way, but I’m set in my ways. I like my schedules. I like being me. And I was scared.”

“Oh.” Meg bit her lip. “I see.”

“But then I was thinking about it, and I realized that this is what I’ve been working towards for so long. Being more relaxed. Spontaneity. Loving people.” Freddie took a deep, shuddering breath. “Loving girls. Loving you.”

“Did you come to any conclusions?” Meg whispered.

Freddie reached her hand around Meg’s neck and drew her face down to hers. “I like you,” she whispered back, before closing the small distance and kissing Meg. 

Meg felt her heart explode as she kissed Freddie back, open, vulnerable, loving. Soft. 

She pulled back after several minutes of easy making out and smiled. “I like you, too. Do you want to have dinner with me?”

“I would love that,” Freddie said.

Meg grinned at her. “Good.”

“Good.” Freddie smiled back and gripped her hand. “I’m going to kiss you again.”

“Okay,” Meg laughed right before her lips met Freddie’s again.

\---

“And in case you didn’t know,” Hero said in her vlog, “Margaret has a girlfriend now, and she refuses to show the world her pretty face, but she did say if we get enough comments, likes, subscribers, that she might appear on a video. So do all that! We want to see Meg’s beautiful girlfriend.”

Meg grinned at Freddie and reached out for her hand. “Hey, do you think we’ll get enough for you to join me in a video?”

“I hope not,” Freddie said.

Meg laughed. “You don’t have to do it. You can always say it’s not enough.”

“I know.” Freddie leaned into Meg’s side and kissed her cheek. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay.” Meg leaned her head on Freddie’s. “I like you a lot.”

“Mm,” Freddie murmured. “I like you a lot.”

Meg smiled and hit the like button on Hero’s video. “One more like closer to a video with you.”

Freddie rolled her eyes and grinned. “Ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine to go.”

“God,” Meg said. “You don’t want much, do you?”

“Nope. Just a huge fanbase for you guys.” Freddie kissed Meg on the lips quickly. “And you.”

The warm spot inside Meg’s chest grew and she smiled. “Thanks, babe.”

“You… are very welcome.” 

They smiled at each other, and that was all they needed. One another.


End file.
